Organization of African Unity

The Organization of African Unity (OAU) was a pan-Africanist international organization that existed from 25 May 1963 to 9 July 2002. Its goal was to promote the cooperation of African states, to eradicate all forms of colonialism, and to improve the living standards of Africa's peoples. Kwame Nkrumah, one of the prime movers behind the OAU's formation, wanted a progressive federation of all African countries; Leopold Senghor led a rival bloc that sought to achieve unity gradually and through economic, not political, cooperation. At the time of the OAU's disbanding in 2002, all African countries except for Morocco were members, as Morocco had left in 1984 following the admission of Western Sahara to the OAU in 1982. Because of the OAU's inability to stop the civil wars in Nigeria and Angola and due to its powerlessness, it dissolved in 2002.